Art & History

Weekly Historical Highlights (November 16 through 22)

November 18, 1943

Cordell Hull served as a Representative and Senator from Tennessee for 10 years before President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him Secretary of State in 1933.
On this date, Secretary of State Cordell Hull addressed a Joint Meeting becoming the first cabinet Member ever to address the Congress. Many hoped this occasion would improve open lines of communication between the President and Congress. The historic address followed Hull’s successful negotiations at the Moscow Conference, with the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and China. Criticized as idealistic, the new agreement set terms for what was hoped to be a sustaining postwar peace in Europe. In addition, it laid out plans to deal with Germany, Italy, Austria, and war crimes committed by the Nazi regime. Once a Representative and Senator from Tennessee, Hull was well-received by his former colleagues. Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn of Texas opened the Joint Meeting welcoming Secretary Hull and stating that the Moscow Conference’s peace plan, “interpreted the inarticulate longings of millions here and of millions over there who through fear today, cannot speak for themselves.” In the address, Hull reminded Congress that, “Only by carrying forward such a program with common determination and united national support, can we expect, in the long range of the future, to avoid becoming victims of destructive forces of international anarchy which in the absence of organized international relations will rule the world. By the procedure of cooperation with other nations likewise intent upon security, we can and will remain masters of our own fate.” The packed House Chamber applauded the Secretary’s address.

November 18, 1978

Representative Leo Ryan of California was postumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress?s highest experession of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.
On this date, a delegation led by Congressman Leo Ryan of California was ambushed and shot in the South American jungle of Guyana (a former British colony) leaving five dead including Representative Ryan. The group’s mission was to investigate allegations of abuse at an American camp of cult leader Jim Jones. The delegation consisted of Representative Ryan, family members of those in the cult, reporters, and Ryan’s staff assistant Jackie Speier. With a reputation as an investigator, Ryan became involved when some of his constituents joined the cult; eventually 1,200 Americans followed Jones to Guyana. Following the ambush, more than 900 members of the Jim Jones cult committed mass suicide in the community known as Jonestown.In a tribute to Ryan on the House Floor, Representative Jim Wright of Texas eulogized him as, “a friend of the disadvantaged, the disenchanted, and the dispossessed—those who need a friend in high places . . . . He took on their habiliments, tasted their anguish with them, and in their service went literally to the ends of the Earth.” Five years later, on November 18, 1983, Congress posthumously awarded Representative Ryan the Congressional Gold Medal. Ryan’s staff assistant, Speier, who was wounded but survived, ran in the special election to succeed her boss. She lost the campaign but went on to serve 20 years in the California state legislature before winning a 2008 special election to the U.S. House, succeeding the late Representative Tom Lantos in a Bay Area district.

November 18, 1995

When Representative Harold Ford, Sr., of Tennessee (pictured above) retired in 1997, his son, Harold Ford, Jr., became the first African American to succeed his father in Congress.
On this date, House Democrats protested an early adjournment of a congressional session. During negotiations with President William J. “Bill” Clinton over the 1996 budget, Congress enacted a stopgap spending bill to maintain the operations of the U. S. federal government. When the bill expired on November 13, the government was forced to shut down. Congress met in a rare Saturday session on November 18 to resolve the problem. Members voted on a number of bills, among them was a temporary measure to “restore processing of new applications for Social Security, pay claims filed by Medicare providers, and process and pay out claims for a wide range of veterans’ benefits.” When the Republican leadership then moved to adjourn, some Democrats disagreed and chanted, “Work, work, work.” In all, Members voted 361 to 32 against adjournment. However, the House declared a recess, which suspended action on the floor. As House Republicans left the chamber, House Democrats refused to leave until an agreement could be reached to end the partial shutdown of the government, which affected 800,000 federal workers. They took turns making speeches that criticized Congress’s inability to resolve the impasse. Democrats remained on the House Floor for more than two hours and some threatened to keep a vigil through the night. Throughout the protest, House television cameras were shut off, which is normal procedure during a recess. However, Harold Ford, Sr., of Tennessee went to the press gallery and turned the microphones on again. In all, 28 Democrats criticized the majority for leaving instead of debating the issue. Bob Wise of West Virginia commented, “I’ve seen sit-ins to close a government down. This is the first sit-in I’ve ever seen to keep a government open.”

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